COVID-19 heroes must jump through hoops for workers' comp

FILE - In this April 28, 2020, file photo Medical personnel attend a daily 7 p.m. applause in their honor, during the coronavirus pandemic outside NYU Langone Medical Center in the Manhattan borough of New York. Essential workers are lauded for their service and hailed as everyday heroes. But in most states nurses, first responders and frontline workers who get COVID-19 on the job have no guarantee they'll qualify for workers' comp to cover lost wages and medical care. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - In this April 14, 2020, file photo FDNY firefighters gather to applaud medical workers as attending physician Mollie Williams, left, wears personal protective equipment due to COVID-19 concerns outside Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York. Essential workers are lauded for their service and hailed as everyday heroes. But in most states nurses, first responders and frontline workers who get COVID-19 on the job have no guarantee they'll qualify for workers' comp to cover lost wages and medical care. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - In this April 22, 2020, file photo healthcare workers, including ER nurse Tamra Hill, front left, wiping away tears, at Regions Hospital to thank Xcel Energy crew members, including Paul Peikert, who had lined the street outside Regions to greet healthcare workers at a morning shift change in St. Paul, Minn. Fewer than one-third of the states have enacted policies that shift the burden of proof for coverage of job-related COVID-19 so workers like first responders and nurses don't have to show they got sick by reporting for a risky assignment. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP, File)